Akagera National Park · Rwanda
Behind the scenes
& Walk the Line
The game drive shows you what lives here. These two activities show you what it takes to keep it alive.
Behind the Scenes: 1.5 hrs · Walk the Line: 7km · approx. 2 hrsBehind the scenes tour
What actually happens inside this park
Over 100 people live inside Akagera National Park. Rangers start at 6am. The anti-poaching team goes out daily into a park the size of a small country. The Behind the Scenes tour takes you to park headquarters and shows you what conservation actually looks like from the inside — not the version in the brochure, but the one that involves dogs, wire snares, and a wall that stops you in your tracks.
What the tour covers
Three stops. Here is what happens at each one.
The conservation briefing
The story of Akagera is Rwanda’s story. The park lost its lions, its black rhinos, and more than half its wildlife to human-wildlife conflict following the 1994 genocide. Returnees needed land. Cattle needed grazing. Lions killed livestock and were poisoned in response. By the time African Parks took over management in 2010 in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board, the damage was severe.
The briefing tells you what was here, what was lost, and what it took to bring it back. Lions reintroduced. Black rhinos returned from South Africa in 2017. Visitor numbers up from 12,000 in 2010 to over 28,000 by 2014, and growing. The park does not sanitise this history. Neither does the briefing.
The canine unit
The anti-poaching dogs are the most visceral part of the tour. The unit was established in 2015 and the dogs are trained to track human scent, locate poachers by footprint or clothing left behind, and hold a suspect until the handler arrives. You will watch a live demonstration — including a full bite-suit attack.
It is loud, fast, and nothing like what you expect. The dogs also detect ivory, leopard skins, and bushmeat — a detection programme still expanding. Most guests leave this stop shaken in the best possible way.
The law enforcement office — and the snare wall
In 2012, the anti-poaching team removed over 2,000 wire snares from inside the park. Last year they removed 25. Both numbers are on the wall of the law enforcement office — not as statistics on a board, but as the actual snares, coiled and stacked. Each one was set to kill. A wire snare tightens as the animal pulls against it. Without intervention it does not let go.
The office also shows you the wildlife monitoring operation: GPS and VHF collars on lions and elephants tracked in real time, black rhinos identified individually by a unique ear-notch system, and ranger patrols mapped using SMART software. The park knows where its animals are. It knows where its rangers are. This is how.
Who this tour is for
Anyone curious about what conservation actually involves rather than what it looks like in a brochure. It is particularly powerful for people who have already spent time in the park — you will leave understanding what it took to produce the wildlife you just watched. It works equally well as a standalone activity or combined with a game drive.
The bite demonstration is not for everyone
The canine unit demonstration involves a trained attack dog biting a handler wearing a full bite suit. It is a controlled exercise but it is aggressive and loud. If you have young children or anyone with a strong fear of dogs in your group, flag this when booking so the team can advise. Most guests find it extraordinary. A few find it too much.
Walk the Line
Seven kilometres along the fence that ended a war
The electric boundary fence around Akagera was completed in 2013. Before it existed, the park had no hard boundary between wildlife and the communities living on its edges. Lions killed cattle and were poisoned. Elephants raided crops. People moved into the park to graze livestock. The conflict was not malicious — it was survival on both sides. It nearly destroyed the park.
Walk the Line takes you along 7km of that fence. A ranger guides you. The walk takes approximately two hours. You are on foot, inside the park, with the boundary fence to one side and open wilderness to the other.
What you see on the walk
- The fence construction and how it works
- Wildlife tracks and signs along the boundary
- Birdlife in the shrubland and woodland edge
- Views across the park’s southern terrain
- Evidence of animal movement near the fence line
- Your ranger guide explaining what changed after 2013
What you understand afterwards
- Why fencing was the only solution to human-wildlife conflict
- How communities were engaged before and after construction
- The scale of the boundary — over 120km of perimeter
- What the park looked like before the fence existed
- Why poaching arrests dropped from 420 to 16 per year
- What “conservation” means in practice at ground level
This is not a game-spotting walk
Walk the Line is not sold as a wildlife walk and you should not book it expecting big game encounters. The boundary fence area is predominantly shrubland and you are walking the perimeter, not deep game country. What it offers instead is time on foot in the park with a ranger who knows its history from the ground up, and a physical understanding of the boundary that protects everything inside it.
Combining both activities
Do both. Do them in order.
Behind the Scenes and Walk the Line are designed to complement each other. The tour shows you the operation from the inside — the people, the technology, the scale of the anti-poaching effort. The walk shows you the physical infrastructure that makes it all possible. Together they take roughly half a day and cost less than a game drive.
The most logical sequence is Behind the Scenes first, then Walk the Line. By the time you reach the fence you will understand exactly what it replaced and why it matters. Many guests do both on arrival day before a game drive, using the morning to understand the park before spending the afternoon looking for its wildlife.
Pricing
Rates at a glance
| Activity | Details | Adult (13+) | Child (6–12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behind the Scenes tour 1.5 hours · min. 4 pax | Per person | $25 | $15 |
| Behind the Scenes tour Group rate · 8+ pax · 1.5 hours | Flat group rate | $180 | — |
| Walk the Line 7km fence walk · min. 3 pax · approx. 2 hrs | Per person | $30 | $20 |
Park entry fees apply separately. Children 5 and under are free. Annual Pass holders receive 10% off all activities.
Preparation
What to bring
Behind the Scenes is based at headquarters and requires no particular preparation. Walk the Line is a 7km walk on uneven terrain in the African sun.
Booking
How to reserve
Book by phone or email. Provide your name, contact number, chosen activity or activities, date, and number of people. Both activities require a minimum group size — Behind the Scenes needs at least 4, Walk the Line at least 3. Payment is cashless only.
Cancellation charges
| Notice given | Charge |
|---|---|
| More than 30 days before | 20% |
| 7–30 days before | 30% |
| Less than 7 days before | 50% |
| After activity start time | 100% |
| Cancelled by park (weather etc.) | Full refund |
No refunds for no-shows or late arrivals.
* Behind the Scenes requires a minimum of 4 participants. Walk the Line requires a minimum of 3.
* Both activities are based in the southern section of the park and operate from park headquarters.
* Walk the Line is a moderate walk on uneven ground. It is not suitable for guests with significant mobility limitations.
* The park is fully cashless. No cash accepted at reception or on arrival.
